Helô MachadoWhen taking pictures of flowers to create his pieces, Brazilian plastic artist Neno Ramos caught a rose in its prime, the peak of its beauty.
With pop-art techniques, Ramos created a shadow screentone to give the flower a three-dimensional aspect. He enlarged the picture to transfer it to the canvas.
Then, he found out that the rose, which was supposed to be unique, when it was reproduced, could “become” a dozen or many more, as many as the artist wanted.
In 1994, the Rosas Carimbos series emerged: a single rosebud had multiplied and obtained several colors, forms, sizes, and presentations: canvases, engravings, sculptures.
Since then, according to Enock Sacramento in his book Brasil Art Show 2005, “Neno Ramos has been developing an oeuvre that is both ambitious and passionate. He strives for his Roses to be widely known and recognized around the world as a product of his artistic travails.”
Vinícius de Moraes once wrote: “[a] rose is a rose is a rose…”. Years later, Cartola, a samba musician, claimed that “[r]oses do not speak…”. Is there any truth to that?
When faced with a rosa carimbo, you are very likely to hear an irresistible request: “Take me with you!” With a little bit of luck, you might just take it.